Blog

I'm here today with a blogger MANY of you will recognize instantly, Sherry of Young House Love. Sherry and her hubby John have only been blogging for a little over two years but they have amassed a huge following of loyal readers and turned their sweet (but originally dated) first house into probably one of the most photographed and blogged homes on the internet! I became a fan more than a year ago when I saw a photo of their bedroom on another blog (see what I mean?). I was instantly smitten with their duvet cover and clicked over to find out more. Much much more.
Young House Love started as a play-by-play of the couple's kitchen remodel, but soon other projects from around the house (including their just -revealed-today remodeled bathroom!) and their beautiful at-home wedding cropped up in posts as their popularity grew. Now Sherry blogs full-time and she, John, pup Burger, and the future little Miss Petersik ("the bean") are still falling in love with their little ranch house. Now she dishes her favorite things, what blogging is really like, and the messy secret in the... well, you'll just have to read it.

1. What is your favorite thing about blogging? Your least favorite thing? Fav thing: the freedom, the creativity, no day is ever the same. And we meet so many great people both locally and around the world. Least fav thing: the hours, the internet is 24/7 so we pretty much are too.

2. What has been your go-to clothing item as your bean-belly grows? Do you have a favorite source for chic but cheap maternity wear? The weirdest thing is that I still wear all the same tops even though my belly is giant. I haven't bought one maternity shirt yet! I guess I just love showing off the bump, so while my pants are Old Navy maternity jeans, I'm still tossing on the same black tank or tee I used to wear along with a colorful cardigan or jacket on top to break up all that belly (usually also from Old Navy, H&M or Banana). Add black boots and some fun jewelry and I'm good to go.

3. Every house has that messy spot - you know, the one that practically GROWS clutter. Where is yours (sorry, reno projects don't count!)? Hmm, out laundry nook can get pretty jammed up with library books to be returned and clothes to be washed. The great thing is that we have friends and family stopping by all the time so I'm pretty diligent about keeping it cleared off and ready for company for the most part. I'm sort of a serial organizer. Clutter and chaos make my brain hurt.

4. When you were a kid what did you want to be when you "grew up"? John: a filmmaker. Sherry: an art teacher.

5. If you had to pick only one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? And Sherry, any weird food cravings? I've been dying for baked potatoes lately. And milk, just boring milk right from the carton. Must be a prego thing because I never had a taste for them (at least I never wanted them multiple times a day) before. John's favorite food is this amazing thing called a Chicken Square. He makes them for me all the time. It's basically chicken and cream cheese and onions chopped up and baked in Pillsbury dough squares to make these oozy warm pouches of deliciousness. Ok, now I'm craving that.

6. For someone who wants to blog full time, what will be the biggest surprise when they get there? It's the hardest job I've ever had by far. I work nights, I work weekends, I work on vacation. I'm never "off" because there's always a question to answer, a post to write, a project to complete, etc. People view blogging as this amazingly flexible and easy job but it's hard work to answer to the entire world and keep the content coming at the same time. Balance is really a challenge. As in, it's hard to have a life and be a blogger. Much harder than I ever thought it would be.

7. Quick: The CIA (for who knows what reason) has to relocate you in 24 hours. You can bring ONLY three things from the house. What do you bring, assuming Burger has a free pass? Ooh this is a good one. Burger (and I assume John and I) are safe, so the three things we'd grab would be: our wedding photo album (full of funny candid photostrips from our special day), my giant clam shell fruit bowl from Z Gallerie (it was a gift from John and I just love it beyond words), and our laptop/external hard drive (since backing up the blog is important when it's your full time gig).

8. Assuming Baby Petersik doesn't come into the world with a paintbrush and hammer in hand (ouch!), what do you think her first hands-on DIY project will be? Ouch is right. No thank you! As for our little bean's first project, maybe we'll hit her up for some finger-painted art for her walls. So sweet.

9. Where do you hope to be 20 years from now? Honestly? We'd be happy to be exactly where we are today. Still in this modest and cozy house of ours. Still running the blog with every spare moment that we have. Still in love- and happy and excited to wake up every day. Life is pretty good right here in the present.

10. What are five things you can't live without, excluding family and animal-family members?

1. A nice Mac laptop (a blogger's best friend).

2. An iPhone (also very blog-friendly for approving comments and publishing posts on the go).

3. Glossy magazines for inspiration and eye candy (John loves Wired and I love everything from House Beautiful to Canadian House & Home).

4. Comfort food (we're both just happier with bellies full of warm tomato soup, grilled cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, or mac & cheese).

5. Floor length curtains (this might be a geeky answer, but paint and curtains are the biggest makeover for the smallest effort... the world would be a sadder place without them).

Thanks Sherry (and John too!) for giving us a glimse into the Petersik house. That mac and cheese has my mouth watering! And readers, if you're at all interested in home improvement and interior design on a realistic budget, well, get thee to Young House Love stat!